Expert: Brad Swain - 1/17/2010

Question
We received a 1934 ten dollar bill for my son's fundraiser.  The serial number is JO1789813A.  It also says on the bottom, "Will pay to the bearer on demand".  Is it worth more than $10 dollars?  Should we turn it in or keep it and replace it with a new $10 bill?  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Shawn, Collector value of a note depends on date, series letter or signature and condition, including amount of wear, any folds, tears or stains as well as collector demand. There have been so many made of these that only the uncirculated ones (no wear) have any significant value above face value. It is worth $10-$25 depending on amount of wear and collector demand and whether it has a series letter by the date.
You might take it by a local coin shop for a first hand opinion: http://find.mapmuse.com/interest/coin_dealers .
U.S. small size paper money values:
http://coinsite.com/html/uspapermoneyprices(sm).asp
and
http://www.bestcoin.com/U-S-Currency-FAQ-Values.htm
You might try Ebay.com for similar pieces for comparison.
Brad